This year, I decided to give myself a challenge to read more. I got the idea from Jess over at FreshJess.com, one of my favorite bloggers in Seattle. In 2016, she challenged herself to read 50 books in the span of a year. While that’s something I’d love to do, I’m afraid that’s too ambitious a goal for me. One of my biggest challenges isn’t just finding the time to read, but finding the effort. By the time I’m done working for the day, the last thing I want to do is expend more mental energy. I usually plop down in front of the TV for a session of Netflix and Zone Out. I figure I’ll give myself a modest goal so I don’t get overwhelmed and discouraged.

So, I’m going give myself a smaller goal of 2 books a month. If I surpass it, then great – I’ll keep going. But I want to at least have read 24 books before 2017 comes to an end.

To kick things off, I’m going to finally wrap up the books I never got around to finishing. I’m not getting too much of a head start though. Most of these are only about an eighth read, if that. I’m starting with Patrick Rothfuss’s The Wise Man’s Fear, the second novel in The Kingkiller Chronicles. My goal is to wrap this by mid-month, then either move on to another ficton or, if I’m a bit fantasied-out, finish Data and Goliath by Bruce Schneier.

Here are the books on my list that I’ve started and need to finish:

  • The Wise Man’s Fear (heroic fantasy) Book 2 of the Kingkiller Chronicles series
  • The Once and Future King (fantasy)
  • Gardens of the Moon (high fantasy) Book 1 of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series
  • The Gunslinger (fantasy, science fiction, Western) Book 1 of the Dark Tower series
  • Data and Goliath (non-fiction, technology)
  • Zero to One (non-fiction, business)
  • Modern Cryptography (non-fiction, technology)
  • Hooked (non-fiction, business)
  • The Martian (science fiction)
  • Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future (biography)

Once these are done, I’ll move on to new books. To keep myself accountable, I’ll endeavor to post updates on my progress and reviews of the books I’ve read here.

What’s on your reading list for 2017?